John N. Trexler, Robert Goodman, Fred Setzer and Jimmie Cranford chat during the Eagle Scout celebration luncheon at St. Matthews Lutheran Church. Photo by Jon C. Lakey, Salisbury Post.

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Frank Surratt, from Rock Hill SC, came back to St Matthews Lutheran Church, for a celebration of past Eagle Scouts from the Troop 333. Surratt was the 4th Eagle scout from the troop and recieved his in 1955. Photo by Jon C. Lakey, Salisbury Post.

Donald Holshouser, Troop 333 Scoutmaster from 1956 to 1964, tells stories from the early days of scouting at St Matthews Lutheran Church. In celebratation of the 100 years of Scouting and the 60th anniversary of Scouting at St Matthew's, 35 of the 72 Eagle Scouts that recieved their awards from St. Matthews returned for a Eagle celebration. Photo by Jon C. Lakey, Salisbury Post.

In the 1954 photo from a Eagle award ceremony. The second and fourth couple shows two Scouts from St Matthew Church's Troop 333 Fred Setzer and Jimmie Cranford pinning a mother's pin on their mothers. Fred Setzer pins his mother Levania Setzer as his father Fred watches. Jimmie Cranford pins his mother, Lettie with his father McCoy. Photo by Jon C. Lakey, Salisbury Post.

By Karissa Minn

kminn@salisburypost.comGreen and tan uniforms stood out among the red-clad congregation of St. Matthew's Lutheran Church this Valentine's Day.

About three dozen Eagle Scouts from Boy Scout Troop 333 gathered for a reunion Sunday to celebrate the troop's 60th anniversary as the Boy Scouts of America marks its 100th year.

The scouts were recognized during the morning church service, joined by their families and the current members of Troop 333. They then gathered for a meal and presentations at the church's Family Life Center.

Jimmy Cranford, 71, was one of the troop's first Eagle Scouts — the highest rank attainable for a scout in the Boy Scouts of America — in 1954. Cranford traveled from Chapel Hill to reunite with others from Troop 333, which has produced 72 Eagle Scouts over the years.

"To use a modern-day term, it's pretty awesome," he said.

Cranford, who wore his Eagle Scout medal proudly on his jacket, said he learned a lot during his time as a Boy Scout. Some of his experiences have carried with him through his entire life.

"One of my first merit badges was insect life, and I spent 22 years studying insects as a career," Cranford said. "I was a research tech at N.C. State in entomology."

Cranford was involved with the Boy Scouts as an assistant scoutmaster and helper until about 10 years ago, he said. Though he hasn't been active in scouting for a while, he has noticed a difference between the Boy Scouts of his generation and those of today.

"The really young ones are too much into the Internet, and they don't want to go out in the woods," he said.

Both of Cranford's sons are Eagle Scouts now, and his wife was a Girl Scout and helps with the Boy Scouts.

Entire families of people involved with the organization sat together at lunch Sunday, some joking that scouting must be a trait passed down through generations.

Tim Agner, an Eagle Scout since 1980, said when he presented the Boy Scouts' highest rank to his son, he realized that children really do inherit scouting principles from their parents.

"We're building leaders, and we are leaders," Agner told the gathered crowd. "As Eagles, we pass that on to our children, who are becoming leaders. Hopefully, they give it back to scouting, and it comes full circle."

Several Boy Scouts, working to earn their communications merit badge, helped lead the program. There are 36 scouts in Troop 333 today.

There were only nine boys in the troop when Donald Holshouser became scoutmaster in 1956. By the time he left eight years later, Holshouser said, there were 50.

"In church, when I looked around, I had a vision in my mind of what everyone looked like back when I was a scoutmaster," he said to the crowd. "Well, I couldn't spot a single one of you. Then I looked in the mirror and found out why."

Holshouser, 80, said it was an honor to be back at St. Matthew's with the scouts after 60 years. Though some memories may have faded, he said he never forgot the 17 Eagle Scouts he worked with in Troop 333.

"Of all the jobs that I've had, the one dearest to me, I'm looking at right now," he said. "I remember you fellows quite well."

Members of Troop 333 have developed some memorable friendships themselves.

Lanny Trexler and Donald Austin grew up as next-door neighbors in Salisbury, attained Eagle Scout status on the same day in 1963, and met up in Vietnam while serving in the same battalion during the war. On Sunday, they saw each other for the first time in 42 years.

"I barely recognized him," said Trexler, 61. "It's great to be here."

Austin, 62, now has a son who is an Eagle Scout, having passed on the lessons he has learned.

Trexler said the lesson from scouting that has stayed with him the most is the meaning of the three-fingered scout sign.

"The tallest finger stands for God," Trexler said. "We need to keep him first, our neighbors second and us third. That's what I'm going to take to the grave with me."